Age and Speeding Tickets

[Chimera]

When I was young, I got 1-3 speeding tickets every year. Period. Several of them, I was at the tail end of a pack of cars that were all driving the same speed or slighly faster, but *I* was the one who got pulled over and ticketted. Never got out of a single one.

But I haven't had one in something like 14 years now. For the record, I'm a white male who will turn 47 in a couple of weeks. I also note that I don't speed like I used to, or drive anywhere even remotely as aggressively as I used to in the past. I tend to drive the speed limit and use my cruise control most of the time I'm behind the wheel unless I'm stuck behind someone who can't drive a consistent speed.

But then there's this...

Friday morning I was driving to work. I'd turned off the 50mph zone that goes north from my apartment and turned onto the 40mph zone that cuts over 1.5 miles to the road my job is located on. I'd been stuck behind some moron driving 35 in the left lane past TWO speed limit signs and finally got the chance to cut around him. I sped up a bit. Next thing I notice our town's unmarked cop coming the other way. I look down and see I'm going 48 in a 40 zone. Oops, busted. He looked at his radar and touches it, the looks over at me as he passes going the other way. My heart is sinking, I'm sure I'm getting a ticket.

He keeps right on going!

YES!

Score one for being a "middle aged white guy".

[OneCentStamp]

I've noticed this phenomenon as well.

[CherryBomb]

I wish that would work for me (though I'm neither 47 nor a white male), but there have been several occasions where I've been singled out over cars that were also speeding. They always seem to ask for insurance first, then my license and registration once I've produced that, so I know they're just looking for the easy ticket.

[WhyNot]

I've only gotten one speeding ticket, and that was last summer. Guy let me off easy, marked me down as, uh, 82 in a 70, I think? I was really going faster, enough to get bumped into the next more 'spensive violation category.

Of course, it had to be when my 16 year old was in the car. The one who's taking driver's ed.

And his 15 year old friend, asleep in the backseat. Without his seatbelt on.

I decided the only thing to do as a Responsible Parent was to demonstrate how one is cordial and polite to police officers, especially when one damn well deserves the damn ticket.

Me - 34, White, Female

[Elyanna]

Never gotten a ticket. Never been pulled over. I've got time.

22 year old white female.

[Sleeps w/Butterflies]

Early 30s. I've had two total and let off with warnings more times than I care to count. I think I may have learned my lesson, as I haven't been pulled over now in two years. ::knocks wood::

[Jeff]

Why is this in TD? I know we hate speeding tickets and all, but TD?

I've had two tickets and two warnings in 18 years of driving. That's the same as my total number of car accidents. Based on my average speed I should have waaay more than that (of both, really).

The first of each was before I was 22. The other half have both been while I've been, um, liberally enjoying the fine engineering of the American Interstate system during vacation (speeding tickets are bad enough, but paying exchange on one doubly sucks).

[danceswithcats]

Why is this in TD? I know we hate speeding tickets and all, but TD?

Discussion of tickets may lead to using the word FUCK and other words that would make your auntie blush, and female posters might decide to post pictures of the ta-tas they flashed to escape a ticket. Think of the children, man.

[BiblioCat]

I've never gotten a ticket, but I've been pulled over maybe 3 or 4 times. I always got off with a warning.

[Zaffri Pieleg]

It's really crazy. First year I had my license I got a ticket every 2 months. After that, it's logarithmically fallen off, and I haven't gotten one in 7 years now. I don't *think* I've changed my driving habits that much. Then again, I tend to either (a) leave the house earlier, or (b) not give a damn about being late anymore.

On second thought... I grew up in a suburb where the police had little to do other than harass teenage drivers, and in my 20's my job routinely took me through some of the most devious speedtraps in the rural South. The absence of those situations probably helps me more than anything.

[dread pirate jimbo]

As a general rule, if I get pulled over, I get ticketed. No matter how minor the transgression or how polite I am -- I got hit with a failure to stop at a stop sign at 1:30 am on a deserted side street once. Weak. I've been nailed for making an illegal left in an area where it is only illegal to make that turn during the morning rush hour and where the signage is almost impossible to spot. And I've been hit with my share of speeding tickets, including one for doing 85 in a 75 zone in Idaho (according to my speedometer, I wasn't going that fast, but I'm not one to argue with a State Trooper). Such is life when you're not a pretty girl.

I did get off with a warning once, earlier this year. Cop pulled me over for running a red light during rush hour in a snow storm with glare ice on the roads making it almost impossible to stop safely in anything like a "normal" distance. I think he was just pissed that I had pulled out in front of him as we were approaching the intersection which forced him to slow down which caused him to miss the light which might have kept him from getting to the doughnut shop in a timely fashion and the only way to fix this problem was to light up the cherries and pull me over for a warning before racing off at what was clearly a dangerously high rate of speed for the road conditions. Asshole.

Actually, I don't think I've received a ticket in a couple years. Either I'm overdue or driving a gutless little Toyota Tercel has taken away my urge to tromp on the gas. I don't think it's an age thing for me, because I don't think I got my first ticket until my late 20s, after I had been driving for around a decade. For me, it seems more a case of getting my wrist slapped every single time I poke a toe across the line. And, as luck would have it, I married a woman with the exact same tendency! Woo Hoo!

[Thudlow Boink]

You know how some people just seem to attract mosquitoes a lot more than others, because of their body chemistry or something?

I think it's the same with cops.

[Clothahump]

You know how some people just seem to attract mosquitoes a lot more than others, because of their body chemistry or something?

I think it's the same with cops.

I agree. Cops are strangely attracted to people who drive with their head up their ass. It's amazing.

[Guizmeaux]

I've been flagged by unmarked cars (with uniformed officers aboard) twice in my 19-year driving career. On both occasions they just gave me a thumbs-down, telling me to slow up. I wasn't even stopped.

On both occasions, I was driving an aggressively DTM-styled car - the same car both times in fact - of a type that would normally be flagged for a full stop and search.

In fact, both Mrs. G and I drive cars which would normally attact attention from the police, but neither of us ever get stopped. I can only assume that we're both too polite looking and don't drive like idiots.

[EthelMercaptan]

The only two times I've ever gotten a ticket, about 3 months apart after 10 years of a completely clean driving record, I was driving a black Ford Ranger. I only had that for a year. Drove hatchbacks and sedans before and since. Been clean for another 10 years. Maybe there's a "young woman in a pickup" thing.

[Count Blucher]

As odd as it seems, I've noticed that since I started driving 55 mph 19 days out of 20, I'm mostly ignored. I have notice that when I switch to my performance car, I seem to be into competitive driving less and much less inclined to take risks. Maybe I just notice it more now, but the roads just seem to be way too crowded any more, so there's just no room or place to 'have fun'.

[Fink-Nottle]

I've only gotten two speeding tickets. One was on my 18th birthday and the second was when I was 32 and hadn't driven a car much in almost 10 years. Both were deserved. In the last 3 years I've also gotten two warnings...neither for speeding. One was for twice passing an unmarked cop car while going the speed limit. And my favorite was by a state trooper who said I was "too animated." Not being stupid I bit my tongue practically off being polite and cooperative. But I was fuming and really wanted to rip into him.

For the record I'm 37, white, and female.

[Guizmeaux]

Oh, I forgot about this - I once got pulled over by a motorcycle cop on the A508 in Northampton.

The reason? He felt that I had accelerated away from the lights too quickly. There was no wheelspin, no chirrup of the tyres at all. He just... didn't like it. This pearl fell from his lips;

"What if it'd been icy? What then?"

It was early September.

[Fink-Nottle]

Oh, I forgot about this - I once got pulled over by a motorcycle cop on the A508 in Northampton.

The reason? He felt that I had accelerated away from the lights too quickly. There was no wheelspin, no chirrup of the tyres at all. He just... didn't like it. This pearl fell from his lips;

"What if it'd been icy? What then?"

It was early September.

And cops wonder why they're hated??? It's idiots like this that ruin it for the cops who don't think they're your mother or your furher.

[Guizmeaux]

And cops wonder why they're hated??? It's idiots like this that ruin it for the cops who don't think they're your mother or your furher.

Not that I'm defending him or anything, but it may well have sounded like I took off at speed since the vehicle I was in was a works-modded boy-racer-looking car that gets thrown up drag strips, which isn't exactly quiet at the best of times.

On the other hand, he's a cop so should be trained to recognise the difference between "going fast" and "generally noisy". Fortunately he was the exception that proves the rule in my case. When I was actually being a bit nawty, they used some discretion when really they didn't have to.

[hroark2112]

I've been pulled over more times than I can count. I've only gotten a few tickets.

One that comes to mind was Thanksgiving Day, 1988, I was 21 years old. I was going somewhere north of 120 MPH between San Fransisco and LA to drop my roommate off at his sister's house then going to Phoenix to my grandmother's house. Right about 3:30PM I see a cop heading north, jam on his brakes & turn around. I know I'm busted, so I slow it down to about 60. Cop catches up to me & I pull over.

He walks up to the car, asks for my paperwork etc. and I hand him my license, military ID & car papers. He asks me "Do you know how fast you were going??" I figured I had nothing to lose by being honest, so I said "Well, I was about 500RPM past when I pegged out at 120, so 125?" He nodded & told me that he could take me to jail for Felony Flight, and to stay in my car & wait. Halfway back to his car, he stops, walks back to my car, and asks why I'm not wearing my seat belt. I said "125 MPH in a Honda CRXsi?? Why bother??" He laughed, nodded, and went back to his car.

After about 10 minutes, he walks back to my car with 2 tickets. He tells me I am GOING to sign them, I am GOING to pay the fine, and I am NOT GOING to court to argue them. I agreed, and started to read the tickets. He told me to stop reading them, sign them, and get going. Of course, I'm happy I'm not going to jail, so I did what I was told, gave him back the tickets, and he gave me my copies & all my paperwork. He told me to pull out and he would get me up to a safe speed. I pulled out and he followed me until I was going about 75, then he passed me & waved.

I read the tickets, and nearly fell over. One ticket for no seat belt, $25.00. One ticket for 65+ in a 55 zone. $75.00. Never before have I wanted to kiss a cop so badly. I'm guessing he had turkey on the table waiting for him to get off shift at 4PM!!

[McNutty]

That's awesome.

I once got pulled over on Christmas Day while heading from San Jose to LA. I got clocked at 101 MPH and the cop told me she could take me to jail for that as well, and also told me that anything over 100 MPH was two points on my driving record. She actually did write the ticket up for 101 MPH, but a week or so later I got a notice in the mail that the ticket had been "corrected" to 100 MPH. Merry Christmas from a cop to me.

There must be something about heading south in California on a major holiday that makes cops want to tell you they can take you to jail but then give you an unexpected break.

ETA: I bet you were on 5, though. I was on 101 (wanted to pass through SLO). I was seriously tempted to joke that my speed was due to being confused about the 101 sign, but I kept my mouth shut.

[Glazer]

I've been pulled over more times than I can count. I've only gotten a few tickets.

One that comes to mind was Thanksgiving Day, 1988, I was 21 years old. I was going somewhere north of 120 MPH between San Fransisco and LA to drop my roommate off at his sister's house then going to Phoenix to my grandmother's house. Right about 3:30PM I see a cop heading north, jam on his brakes & turn around. I know I'm busted, so I slow it down to about 60. Cop catches up to me & I pull over.

He walks up to the car, asks for my paperwork etc. and I hand him my license, military ID & car papers. He asks me "Do you know how fast you were going??" I figured I had nothing to lose by being honest, so I said "Well, I was about 500RPM past when I pegged out at 120, so 125?" He nodded & told me that he could take me to jail for Felony Flight, and to stay in my car & wait. Halfway back to his car, he stops, walks back to my car, and asks why I'm not wearing my seat belt. I said "125 MPH in a Honda CRXsi?? Why bother??" He laughed, nodded, and went back to his car.

After about 10 minutes, he walks back to my car with 2 tickets. He tells me I am GOING to sign them, I am GOING to pay the fine, and I am NOT GOING to court to argue them. I agreed, and started to read the tickets. He told me to stop reading them, sign them, and get going. Of course, I'm happy I'm not going to jail, so I did what I was told, gave him back the tickets, and he gave me my copies & all my paperwork. He told me to pull out and he would get me up to a safe speed. I pulled out and he followed me until I was going about 75, then he passed me & waved.

I read the tickets, and nearly fell over. One ticket for no seat belt, $25.00. One ticket for 65+ in a 55 zone. $75.00. Never before have I wanted to kiss a cop so badly. I'm guessing he had turkey on the table waiting for him to get off shift at 4PM!!

Or maybe he was just happy to have someone be honest with him and not give him a ration of shit for a change.

[Fenris]

Pepe?

[Queen Tonya]

We spend Thanksgiving at my parents place, about 250 miles away. I hate having to make the drive the night before after working all day, but if I don't then I need to get up extra early to be there in time to help with preparations and all. Every year it's the same dilemma, drive tired the night before, or set the alarm to wake up early on a holiday which just feels wrong.

The year my son grew tall enough to see the speedometer and read the posted signs was a year I was busting to get up there on the day. Of course I hadn't left early enough, so we're having an ongoing argument about why Mom is speeding. I'd been stuck in one of those 2-lane highway bubbles of stupidity, about 10 cars stuck behind two folks doing the exact limit in both lanes, when finally an opening appeared. It was an uphill stretch but I wanted to get away from the pack, so I floored it. Just as I crested the top, there's a cop. I was driving a yellow pick-up truck, so there's no way I could even hide or disappear if I wanted to. I immediately got into the right lane, dropped my speed and waited for him to catch up, then politely pulled over before he even lit them up.

As soon as he approached the car, where I was frantically trying to find my license, registration and insurance, my darling child says "I told her, Mr.Officer! She knew she was speeding and I told her not to, but she still did!"

It seemed like a bad idea to abuse the child in front of the cop, so I said nothing, just shot him the evil Mom glare willing him to shut up. Gave the cop the registration and insurance, but for the first and only time in my life, could not find my license. I did have the number memorized, at least, and gave it to him while the child was still merrily bubbling away about how long I'd been speeding and how many times he'd told me not to.

He runs my info and my record is clean, asks if I knew how fast I was going and I answered honestly "As fast as it could, I was pegged out trying to get away from a cluster of cars, I'm late for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents." He must have felt sorry for the chick who's own kid wanted to bust on her, because to my amazement, he just told me to slow down, find my license and handed me my stuff back with no ticket.

As a teenager I got 2 or 3 a year, but haven't had one in over fifteen years.

[Myglaren]

The only two I have had were about six-seven years ago, quite close together. No police but roadside speed cameras.
One on a dual carriageway where the speed limit had just been reduced to 30 from 40 and another where it had been reduced to 40 from 60.
In both cases I was 7mph over the posted limit and therefore 3mph below the old limit that I thought still applied.

It took me >30 years to acquire those two.

They never catch me when I'm doing twice the limit. Not yet anyway.